As he had been the final performance, both Kyungsoo and Suho had left with the crowd, leaving Baekhyun to continue floating on his cloud of happiness alone. He strode through the hallway to his locker, bouncing in elation, nothing but singing and performing could make him this happy and free. Reaching his locker, he glanced out of the large floor to ceiling window opposite him and saw that the wind had picked up and heavy rain was lashing against the window. He sighed at the sudden change in the weather and was glad to remember that he had stored a few extra jumpers in his locker in case this had happened. He had been sure that this weather was too good to be true for March. 

He scrambled in his pocket for his key, which was difficult due to the tightness of his skinny jeans, and shoved the key into the padlock, opening the rusty old locker with a loud, juddering creak. He tossed is books into the bottom of the locker and snatched up his permanent marker, putting a thorough cross through the date in the calendar hanging on the door of his locker. a wide grin spread across his face from ear to ear as he leant his head against the cold metal, still hearing the crowds cheers in his head as he had sung. A bout of hail scattering across the window brought him back to the reality that he needed to hurry home before this weather got any worse. The school was nearly deserted by now, so Baekhyun didn't feel silly as he picked up the two thick jumpers in his locker and held each in turn up to his body. He decided on the pale blue one and shoved it over his head, slotting his arms into the sleeves. As soon as the thick woollen material hit his neck he cringed inwardly away from it, remembering why he hardly ever wore this jumper as the label scratched and dug into his flesh.

Freaking out at the sudden lack of control that he felt as he scrambled to itch and scratch his neck he grappled with the hem of his jumper, and pulled it ferociously up in a scattered attempt to remove the source of his angst. In his wild struggle the hem of his t-shirt also became caught up in his hands as he yanked and flustered and confused as he was he became stuck with his arms above his head and bundles of itchy cloth swathed around his head. He began to panic as his oxygen supply became limited through the thick material, thrashing about in an attempt to remove himself from the confines of his woven prison. He stumbled backward, his vision completely impaired by his situation and the bare skin of his back met the cold, unyielding metal of his locker. Springing forward away from the sudden shocking temperature change he crashed not something much warmer and more giving.

Baekhyun yelped in shock as a pair of large sturdy hand steadied his shoulders, before proceeding to hold down his t-shirt as they fluidly and expertly removed his jumper. Baekhyun staggered back, breathing hard, heart pounding as he adjusted himself. He had never dealt with small spaces well but there was nothing he feared more than feeling out of control. It was not the itchy material, or even the constricting that had driven him into such a state, it was the feeling of being helpless and not being able to help himself. He looked up to see who had helped him and for the fourth time that day his heart spun out of control, pounding double time I his chest. He suddenly felt extremely embarrassed at the fact that he had moments before been exposed, a deep blush creeping up his cheeks as he shoved the jumper into his locker and swiftly adorned the other one, trying to hide his face in his actions. A deep laugh grumbled behind him, "Dude you really freaked out. Are you okay?" the former sentence was filed with the vibrations of his chuckle, but in the latter his tone changed to one of slight concern. 

Baekhyun whipped up his bag, locking his padlock and shoving his hands dee into his pockets, not looking up at the tall boy behind him, afraid that he would become paralysed in emotion or embarrass himself even more. He mumbled a quick, "I-I'm fine...t-thanks." over his shoulder as he hurried down the corridor, speeding to a near run as he rounded the corner.

"Hey wait!" Chanyeol called after Baekhyun as he rushed away from him with his head to the ground. He didn't slow down or even show the slightest hint that he had heard him speak, "I loved your singing..." Chanyeol continued at a whisper to himself, as the boy rounded the corner and disappeared from sight. Chanyeol felt a slight ache in his chest as he was watched the smaller boy leave. He didn't understand the feeling, he had been ignored before and it hadn't been a big deal. He shrugged it off and carried on to his own locker to retrieve his things. 

Baekhyun didn't slow down to a walk until he was clear of the building. He kicked at a stone in frustration and shook at his waterlogged hair, angry at himself for his own cowardly actions. His good mood tainted he didn't bother slopping at the bus stop, he needed to vent, and a walk in the rain seemed the perfect way to do so. By the time he arrived home, he was soaked to the bone and shivering in spine wracking shudders. Grabbing a hot water bottle he clambered into his bed, sliding between his warm sheets without even bothering to dry off or to get changed. He willed himself to sleep so that he could forget the days embarrassing events, in the hope that by morning, he would only remember the joy that he had felt, not 2 hours ago.